


Osiris

by Azdaema



Category: Firefly
Genre: Ancient Egyptian Literature & Mythology, F/M, Podfic Available, Vague Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-01-31 16:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12686091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azdaema/pseuds/Azdaema
Summary: A re-write of the deleted scene where River asks Book marry her and Simon.River tells Simon the story of Osiris and Isis.





	Osiris

**Author's Note:**

> This is half based on the deleted scene from "Our Mrs. Reynolds" where River asks Book to marry her and Simon. If you've never seen it, watch it before reading. ([Here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOU1qH7SAcM)) I've heard the scene was cut because in it Simon calls River crazy, and that was out of character—he _never_ calls her crazy. So here, he doesn't.
> 
> The other half of this is Egyptian mythology. All mythologies are confusing, with multiple mutuality contradictory versions of the myths, and Egyptian myths even more jumbled than most. That said, I think the story River tells is a fairly common version of the Osiris myth.

"Tell him," River urges her brother.

"Tell him what?"

River turns to Book, a smile coming over her as she speaks. "We want you to marry us."

 _"What?"_ Simon gapes. "We… No, _no_..." Simon protests, turning to the Preacher, before spinning back to River. _"What?"_

"Two by two. Everyone has a match, a mate, a doppel." She beams up at him. _"I love you."_

"No, River... mei-mei... of course, I love you too, but we can't be married." He has a sudden urge to turn to the Sheppard and say, _She's really crazy,_ but he bites back the words. He won't call her that, not ever.

So instead he says, "I'm sorry. I'll adjust her meds again." Then takes River by the hand and pulls her with him down the hallway to his cabin to deal with this in private, out of sight of the crew. She comes, though protesting. "We'll take of each other. _I'll knit!"_

He winces, her voice loud and echoing in the ship. But at the same time, her earnestness makes his heart constricts painfully.

When they reach the cabin and he turns to look at her again, River's expression is one of confusion and hurt. He tries to explain. "River, that's just—you know—that's not something brothers and sisters do."

She gives him a look of exasperation. Lying to her is no good.

"I mean, on some planets," he amends, "but... only pretty bad ones."

"Like Osiris."

"What...? No, not like Osiris. This wouldn't happen on Osiris."

" _Yes,_ " she protests. "Like _Osiris_."

He stares at her, baffled.

" _Osiris._ " she explaines. "Osiris and _Isis_."

He tries to place the reference, with her closely watching his face all the while, awaiting the spark of recognition. No one can make him feel ignorant the way River can. She looks at him like he's a puppy who ran into a glass door—partly charmed by his naïvety, party cringing for him and his obvious ignorance.

"Earth-that-was," he says at last. "Mythology of Egypt?"

River nods. "Osiris and his sister-wife Isis."

He can see where this is going now. "So I'm Osiris? And you're Isis?"

"Silly Simon." She shakes her head at her poor, foolish brother. " _I'm_ Osiris. _You're_ Isis."

She takes on the trance-like manner of story and performance—the same way when she does when she dances. "Set trapped Osiris in a coffin and killed him. The coffin was swept far away. But Isis didn't accept that. She kept searching for Osiris until she found him." She looks at Simon, a twinkle in her eye. "Isis took the box back to Egypt, to the river, and then she opened it. But she left him alone for a minute to get something, and Set came and chopped Osiris up. It was ok—Isis was a good doctor, as good as you. She put him back together and fixed him anyways. She used medicine and saved him." River smiles sadly. "But even though she did her best, she couldn't make him quite as he was before. He couldn't be quite alive again, so he became Lord of the Afterlife."

She grows quiet. "You did you best to fix me. But you still can't make me quite the way I was before."

Simon turns away. River reaches out and hugs him, pulling him back. "It's ok Simon. It's not your fault. Osiris was the god of rebirth."

"What was Isis the goddess of then?"

"Healing. Magic. Families." She smiles as she tells him, and despite himself, Simon gives a small smile in return. _Yes, that sounds familiar._

"Do you know happened next?" River continues.

Simon shakes his head.

"They had a baby. Horus. God of the sky and birds."

"Birds?"

"Falcons." She frowns. "It's an old transition. Maybe ships—sky, flying, freedom. Our baby could be of the sky and ships." She's been holding the pillow to her belly, and Simon had thought she'd merely been holding it for comfort. But now she puts her hand on it, as if she were pregnant, and says, "Now we have to be married. I'm in the family way."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] Osiris](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13929735) by [BabelGhoti (TheHandmadeTale)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHandmadeTale/pseuds/BabelGhoti)




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